On September 11th, 2001, the United States of America suffered a shocking disillusionment when the World Trade Center was the subject of a terrorist attack. Over two decades have passed since this event, and its repercussions are still felt: dramatically increased security in airports, prejudice against Muslims, and a war in Iraq that the U.S. only just withdrew from. This reaction came from the loss of approximately three thousand human lives.
The sudden and mass loss of human life is no new concept. Pompeii snuffed two thousand people out, and to massively upscale, an earthquake in the Sichuan province of China killed just under seventy thousand in 2008. Just this year, a new war in Ukraine broke out and has resulted in an estimated twenty thousand deaths so far. The point is, humanity has never been far from its latest tragedy. This is what is so timeless about Craig Wright’s Recent Tragic Events: though the play covers the attacks of September 11th, 2001, its message spans any time period in human history: live today, because there’s no guarantee of tomorrow.
Color-blind casting is the goal for this piece: grief and distress are universal, and though the attacks on the World Trade Center affected middle-to-upper class white families most directly, the shockwave that reverberated throughout America was by no stretch of the imagination limited to this group of people.
This production would not be for-profit; ticket prices would aim to cover only the costs of production such as obtaining rights, sourcing props and costumes, etc. As such, ticket prices are indeterminate until these costs are calculated, but are not to exceed $20. Discounted tickets of no more than $15 will be provided for seniors, and it will not be recommended for children to attend the play.
The ideal theatre for this production is a smaller one, with a house that should max out at about one hundred seats. Lesser-known, intense plays such as Recent Tragic Events often find themselves better for smaller audiences, as the small space with fewer audience members minimizes distractions from the world of the play. A small community or campus theatre would be ideal for this production. The ideal run length spans approximately two weeks, to help make up for production costs and the smaller audience size.
This play is written as a 9/11 comedy- a phrase that is likely to turn heads. However, this aspect of the piece will be downplayed to provide a more tense, serious experience for the audience with the occasional humor to break up the monotony of continuous concern. There is no specific director to be chosen for this piece – so long as the job is done well and in good taste.
Recent Tragic Events gives away its message in its title: there is never a time without great tragedies to be mourned, but it is in these times that we band closer together and become more human.